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Review added of tick, tick … BOOM! on Netflix (linked). Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame, it’s the story of stage musical composer Jonathan Larson. We were so reliant on Miranda’s name that we didn’t look up any backstory. You really have to know who Larson was, and we hadn’t a clue. It didn’t work at all for us, but then I really disliked the music.

Elena Ferrante’s THE LOST DAUGHTER (link to review) was released on Netflix on New Year’s Eve, 2021. Directed and scripted by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and featuring Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson. The theme of a woman who abandoned her daughters many years earlier and is thinking back to the time is what resonates with reviewers. It’s already picking up awards.

It started on NETFLIX on 24 December. Available now, DON’T LOOK UP (linked) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence who are astronomers who discover impending disaster from a comet, Will the president (Meryl Streep) listen? Will her son, the White House Chief-of-Staff. What about the media? (Cate Blanchett & Tyler Perry)? It’s not “about” a comet at all … think reaction to climate change and Covid. A great performance too from Mark Rylance as the billionaire tech wizard. Add Ariande Grande as a megastar pop singer. We loved it.

Let It Be

LET IT BE by The Beatles from 1970. Added to the Reviled! The albums critics love to hate on my AROUND AND AROUND site. This was always the original choice for The Beatles, but I held back knowing that the GET BACK film trilogy was imminent (all reviewed here) and so was the 5 CD / blu-ray deluxe box set. Now I’ve seen the films, heard the box set it can take its rightful place. A detailed review with many quotes.

Some personal thoughts on CHRISTMASES LONG PAST (aka “A Child’s Christmas in Bournemouth”) to suit the season. It only goes up to 1978 when we started having a detailed photographic record. Do feel free to add your own memories

It’s new on Amazon Prime, and it will beat watching Christmas TV. BEING THE RICARDOS (linked) is based on the I Love Lucy TV series with Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and Javier Bardam as Desi Arnaz. It’s about the most dramatic week in her career when he was accused of being a Communist (September 1953). Great performances from all four playing Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and Fred and Ethel Mertz from the TV show, but it’s mainly behind the scenes with flashbacks to their careers.

And in the end … GET BACK (PART 3) (LINKED) the best one of the three with the Rooftop Concert (virtually the whole) plus the police version of the tale.

The second article on Peter Jackson’s Get Back trilogy on The Beatles is now up. Lots more discussion and quotes on part two.

I’ve added a rant on MAIL v GUARDIAN, (LINKED) on the way in which people categorize views they dislike as those of either “Guardian readers” or “Daily Mail readers.” Have a look. I’m both.

We’ve done it! Sixty-seven episodes of Outlander (LINK TO REVIEW) over many months. We didn’t binge watch either. 1311 photos on IMDB online. This is a (reasonably) light-hearted overview of the first five series. So if you have sixty-seven hours to spare this is the one. If you haven’t seen it, it’s based on a woman who travels back in time from 1946 to 1743 Scotland. It will move on through France, England, the Caribbean to North Carolina in 1772. Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan (pictured) star over filming that stretched from 2014 to 2020 and there are two more series in the pipeline. On Netflix.